Chicago, IL - 6/9/18 - Tecmo Super Bowl Hardcore Championship

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Like many of you on this forum, I believe Tecmo Super Bowl for the Nintendo Entertainment System is the greatest sports video game of all time.The reasons for this are many, and the players of this forum already know the reasons why.My question is this; Is Tecmo Super Bowl in its natural 100% organic state still the greatest sports video game of all time? Is lurching broken?Does putting position players anywhere in offensive formations make it unfair?Finding out the answers to these questions is what motivated me to create the Tecmo Super Bowl Hardcore Championship taking place in Chicago, IL on Saturday, June 9th 2018 at Dmen Tap.

Now I already know what you are probably thinking….I'm off my rocker.And yes, if you have played this game for years in online leagues and live tournaments in an established proven format I get where you are coming from.Maybe this format is not for you.All I'm asking players to do, is play Tecmo Super Bowl in a live tournament the way it came fresh out of that box back in 1991 to determine a Champion.

So let me give a little background of where I am coming from with this.Up until almost exactly 10 years ago when I played my first game on the Tecmo Players Circuit, I had never played Tecmo Super Bowl with any in-game bans or substitution bans.In the hundreds of games I played against the CPU and with their default playbooks, it was pretty clear the nose tackle dive was broken.Sacks were extremely easy to rack up against the CPU, and after a while it got boring using the lurching move all the time.Luckily for me, I had a brother, an uncle, and a few cousins who loved playing Tecmo Super Bowl as well.We would always play it randomly when we saw each other during family visits.This commonality of affection for one video game ultimately led to the inception of the annual Family Christmas Eve Tecmo Super Bowl Tournament in 2006.The tournament is still an annual Christmas event and we have yet to set any rules.From my experience in these tournaments the right playbook selection makes lurching at best a very risky gamble.The majority of the time the lurch fails against a player with quick recognition passing skills, or almost any run play that isn't a run up the middle.The lurch failure usually leads to a huge gain for the offense or a touchdown.My cousin Ryan is a notorious lurcher in these tournaments and every once in a great while he breaks up a play with a lurch.Now once I see him attempt a lurch or two, I'm licking my chops waiting to call the right running play to blow up that Nose Tackle and take it in for the touchdown.This happens pretty much every year I end up playing him, which leads to him staying away from user controlling the Nose Tackle simply because he now recognizes it's not his best option on defense when playing an experienced player.The way this plays out is the Nose Tackle dive is only used in infrequent spells to throw off your opponent or catch him off guard.It's not an every down thing and if it were, an experienced player would destroy you.As far as substitutions, most notably Wide Receivers at Running Back, this has never been broken.All it does is increase the value of some of the teams by having a faster Running Back.Teams like the 49ers, Oilers, Eagles, Dolphins, Rams, Redskins, Vikings, Falcons, among others can benefit from choosing to have a faster Running Back.

After pondering for a while if I should throw a tournament without the conventional rules, I asked Mort where the lurching ban came from.His response made complete sense.He said it came from the online lag that had to be adjusted for using the Nesticle emulator.Players were not able to adjust to the lurch in time to make the game very playable.It was deemed a cheap move for online play and was banned ever since.If any of you have played on Nesticle, you know how bad the lag was.After hearing this historical reference, I knew now was the time to bust out the Hardcore Format!

In the coming months, I will be explaining in more detail the Tier List you see below as well as giving playbook suggestions for the Hardcore Format.The entry fee, prizes, tournament format, and entry fee inclusions will be revealed after Kumite VI and Lincoln VIII.

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Donating an Mike Ditka Framed Photo since it is impossible for me to get it home to highest placing Bears Fan registered tournament player. Mort has it in his storage center. @allamerican1569@mort1237 Not sure if i can make it.

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Donating an Mike Ditka Framed Photo since it is impossible for me to get it home to highest placing Bears Fan registered tournament player. Mort has it in his storage center. @allamerican1569@mort1237 Not sure if i can make it.